MOBA Game Lingos MOBA Newbies Need To Know
Nintendo will always have our curiosity hooked with their new games and Pokemon is one of their best games—with an excellent track record.
But all long-time Pokemon fans would know that the Pokemon games are largely based on the typical RPG genre, even for their spin-offs.
For instance, the 2005 Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series strayed away from the turn-based combat of the mainline games and yet it still retained RPG elements with a proper story and adventure—only that you will be playing as a Pokemon instead of being a trainer.
Guess what? With the latest release of Pokemon UNITE, Pokemon is traversing through uncharted waters with the MOBA genre. And competing with the likes of League of Legends and DOTA 2, you might say that Nintendo has their work cut out for them.
But we’re not here to judge whether Pokemon UNITE is the best MOBA game or not, instead, we will be looking into the terms and lingos that MOBA players tend to use and what they mean to help out players who are new to the MOBA scene.
1. Top Lane, Bottom Lane and the Mid Lane
If you look at the minimap of the game—which you should do all the time—you would have noticed that the setting of the game is split into three lanes.
The top lane is for the above part of the stage, the bottom lane’s the below section and the middle area is the mid lane.
While this is not set in stone, the lanes do somewhat represent the place where certain roles of characters should start at the beginning of the game, like an opening in chess.
The top lane should be given to Pokemons that farm well and that scales into the late game. As such, you would want to prioritise the top lane to Pokemons that have strong damage output like Talonflame and Cinderace.
As for the bottom lane, it will be best for the tanker of the team to start there. Pokemon that have high health points like Snorlax are the ideal candidates.
And the most skill demanding lane of them all will be the middle one. Not only will the player need to farm well, but they must also make early to late gameplays to set the tempo for their team. Pokemon like Lucario are perfect for it.
2. Pushing
No, pushing in Pokemon UNITE does not mean that you ‘push’ something literally.
Pushing in MOBA terms is another way of making the statement “pushing for objectives”. This usually indicates that your team member might want the team to ‘push’ towards the control points to get some points on the board.
Note that ‘pushing’ is an essential part of any MOBA game and is usually objective-driven. Hence, when a seasoned player tells the team to ‘push’, it usually means that the said player trusts that the team is strong enough to conquer objectives.
3. Ganking
Ganking is one of the many factors that make MOBA games so fun.
Think of a ‘gank’ as an ambush of sorts. A gank usually happens when you and your team are trying to create a scenario where you outnumber the enemy with the element of surprise.
Ever wondered why the mantra of informing your teammates from other lanes that the opponent you’re facing in your lane is missing? Because, if the enemy in your lane is missing, there is a high chance that the ‘missing’ opponent is rotating into another lane for a gank.
A good player would know when to gank and would know when he or she is about to be ganked.
4. Jungling
Arguably the most despised term of MOBA; as ‘junglers’ are players that hide in the jungle, or in this case, the place between the lanes where they get to farm safely.
The jungle is usually reserved for Pokemon who need to farm and have not done so well during the laning stage.
The reason why jungling is so infuriating is because junglers usually spend most of their time farming instead of helping the team, but usually, these Pokemon are the ones that will carry the game.
Note that jungles are usually the best place for your enemies to set up a gank, so be aware of the enemy Pokemon that seem to be missing on the map.
5. Damage Types: DOT, AOE, and ULT
Like all MOBA games, Pokemon UNITE does have a lot of ways where a character can uniquely deal damage.
– DOT (Damage Over Time)
Damage that hurts little by little. It’s the opposite of a burst damage and acts like a poison that slowly chips away your health points.
– AOE (Area of Effect)
Damage that hits a wide radius. It’s the opposite of a point target attack and is usually most valuable during huge team fights.
– ULT (Ultimate)
ULT refers to the ‘ultimate’ move of your Pokemon, in this case, the Unite Move. This is usually the most powerful ability it has in its arsenal and is also accompanied by a long cooldown.
6. Kiting and Crowd Control
Kiting and crowd control are a little bit more advanced. Kiting is a tact manoeuvre that is usually used to deal with extremely strong foes. It’s usually a collective effort where you try to chip away the HP from a high-levelled or tanky opponent while constantly moving around to avoid him from hitting you—like containing a beast.
Crowd control is more of a skill type than it is a strategy. Crowd control or CC is an AOE disable that locks down or stuns units in the targeted area. These abilities are extremely useful in team fights and are very beginner-friendly as you can land them easily.
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